"The Tollund Man" is Irish poet Seamus Heaney's reflection on human nature, religion, and the history of violence. Imagining a visit to the Tollund Man—an Iron Age human sacrifice preserved in a peat bog—the poem's speaker observes that, more than 2,400 years later, people are still dying terrible deaths in the name of their fervent beliefs. In particular, the Tollund Man's fate makes the speaker think of the Troubles, a long and bloody 20th-century conflict between Irish Catholics and Protestants. The poem first appeared in Heaney's 1972 collection Wintering Out.

• Read the full text of “The Tollund Man”

• “The Tollund Man” Summary

• “The Tollund Man” Themes

  • 

    Violence, Religion, and History

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20
    • Lines 21-32
    • Lines 33-44
  • 

    The Tragedy of Futile Sacrifice

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20
    • Lines 21-32
    • Lines 33-44

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Tollund Man”

  • Lines 1-4

    Some day I ...
    ... pointed skin cap.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-11

    In the flat ...
    ... a long time.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 12-20

    Bridegroom to the ...
    ... Reposes at Aarhus.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-20

    Trove of the ...
    ... Reposes at Aarhus.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-24

    I could risk ...
    ... to make germinate

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-28

    The scattered, ambushed ...
    ... in the farmyards,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 29-32

    Tell-tale skin and ...
    ... along the lines.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 33-40

    Something of his ...
    ... knowing their tongue.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 41-44

    Out here in ...
    ... and at home.

    

    

    

    

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• “The Tollund Man” Symbols

  • 

    The Tollund Man

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20: “Some day I will go to Aarhus / To see his peat-brown head, / The mild pods of his eye-lids, / His pointed skin cap. / In the flat country near by / Where they dug him out, / His last gruel of winter seeds / Caked in his stomach, / Naked except for / The cap, noose and girdle, / I will stand a long time. / Bridegroom to the goddess, / She tightened her torc on him / And opened her fen, / Those dark juices working / Him to a saint's kept body, / Trove of the turfcutters' / Honeycombed workings. / Now his stained face / Reposes at Aarhus.”
    • Lines 23-26: “pray / Him to make germinate / The scattered, ambushed / Flesh of labourers,”
    • Lines 33-34: “Something of his sad freedom / As he rode the tumbril”

• “The Tollund Man” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-4: “his peat-brown head, / The mild pods of his eye-lids, / His pointed skin cap.”
    • Lines 7-8: “His last gruel of winter seeds / Caked in his stomach,”
    • Lines 15-20: “Those dark juices working / Him to a saint's kept body, / Trove of the turfcutters' / Honeycombed workings. / Now his stained face / Reposes at Aarhus.”
    • Lines 27-28: “Stockinged corpses / Laid out in the farmyards,”
    • Lines 29-30: “Tell-tale skin and teeth / Flecking the sleepers”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-4: “Some day I will go to Aarhus / To see his peat-brown head, / The mild pods of his eye-lids, / His pointed skin cap.”
    • Lines 12-16: “Bridegroom to the goddess, / She tightened her torc on him / And opened her fen, / Those dark juices working / Him to a saint's kept body,”
    • Lines 21-24: “I could risk blasphemy, / Consecrate the cauldron bog / Our holy ground and pray / Him to make germinate”
    • Lines 25-32: “The scattered, ambushed / Flesh of labourers, / Stockinged corpses / Laid out in the farmyards, / Tell-tale skin and teeth / Flecking the sleepers / Of four young brothers, trailed / For miles along the lines.”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “The mild pods of his eye-lids,”
    • Line 13: “She tightened her torc on him”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-4: “Some day I will go to Aarhus / To see his peat-brown head, / The mild pods of his eye-lids, / His pointed skin cap.”
    • Lines 25-32: “The scattered, ambushed / Flesh of labourers, / Stockinged corpses / Laid out in the farmyards, / Tell-tale skin and teeth / Flecking the sleepers / Of four young brothers, trailed / For miles along the lines.”
    • Lines 33-40: “Something of his sad freedom / As he rode the tumbril / Should come to me, driving, / Saying the names / Tollund, Grauballe, Nebelgard, / Watching the pointing hands / Of country people, / Not knowing their tongue.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-8: “seeds / Caked”
    • Lines 9-10: “for / The”
    • Lines 13-14: “him / And”
    • Lines 15-16: “working / Him”
    • Lines 17-18: “turfcutters' / Honeycombed”
    • Lines 19-20: “face / Reposes”
    • Lines 22-23: “bog / Our”
    • Lines 23-24: “pray / Him”
    • Lines 24-25: “germinate / The”
    • Lines 25-26: “ambushed / Flesh”
    • Lines 27-28: “corpses / Laid”
    • Lines 29-30: “teeth / Flecking”
    • Lines 30-31: “sleepers / Of”
    • Lines 31-32: “trailed / For”
    • Lines 33-34: “freedom / As”
    • Lines 34-35: “tumbril / Should”
    • Lines 36-37: “names / Tollund”
    • Lines 38-39: “hands / Of”
    • Lines 41-42: “Jutland / In”
    • Lines 42-43: “parishes / I”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “peat”
    • Line 3: “pods”
    • Line 4: “pointed”
    • Line 9: “Naked”
    • Line 10: “noose”
    • Line 13: “tightened,” “torc”
    • Line 17: “Trove,” “turfcutters”
    • Line 22: “Consecrate,” “cauldron”
    • Line 29: “Tell-tale,” “skin,” “teeth”
    • Line 30: “Flecking,” “sleepers”
    • Line 31: “four”
    • Line 33: “Something,” “sad”
    • Line 38: “pointing”
    • Line 39: “people”
    • Line 40: “Not knowing”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “see,” “peat”
    • Line 3: “mild,” “eye”
    • Line 8: “Caked”
    • Line 9: “Naked”
    • Line 17: “Trove,” “turfcutters”
    • Line 18: “Honeycombed,” “workings”
    • Line 19: “stained face”
    • Line 22: “cauldron bog”
    • Line 25: “scattered,” “ambushed”
    • Line 29: “teeth”
    • Line 30: “sleepers”
    • Line 31: “young brothers”
    • Line 32: “miles,” “lines”
    • Line 36: “Saying,” “names”
    • Line 39: “country”
    • Line 40: “tongue”

• “The Tollund Man” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Peat
  • Torc
  • Fen
  • A saint's kept body
  • Turfcutters
  • Blasphemy
  • Consecrate
  • Germinate
  • Sleepers
  • Lines
  • Tumbril
  • Parishes
  • (Location in poem: Line 2: “To see his peat-brown head,”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Tollund Man”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Tollund Man” Speaker

• “The Tollund Man” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Tollund Man”

• More “The Tollund Man” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Heaney's Life and Work — Visit the Poetry Foundation to read a short biography of Heaney and read more of his poetry.

    • Heaney's Creative Process — Read a short piece in which Heaney discusses his writing room and his writing habits.

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.

    • The Tollund Man — Learn more about the Tollund Man (and see pictures of his astonishingly well-preserved face).

    • An Interview with Heaney — Read an interview with Heaney in which he discusses "The Tollund Man," as well as his thoughts and feelings about the Irish political situation in the 1970s.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Seamus Heaney

    • Blackberry-Picking

    • Bogland

    • Death of a Naturalist

    • Digging

    • Exposure

    • Follower

    • Mid-Term Break

    • Out of the Bag

    • Personal Helicon

    • Punishment

    • Requiem for the Croppies

    • Storm on the Island

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